Cabinet and support for liquefied gas storage and utilization equipment



7 j 6 40 V 9 :1 v INVENTOR. Paul E E1-Ldal:|:|fi

March 12', 1935. P. s. ENDACOTT 1,994,337

CABINET AND SUPPORT FOR LIQUEFIED GAS STORAGE AND UTILIZATION EQQIPMENT Filed May a, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 "'FIG.1.

March 12, 1935.

CABINET AND SUPPORT FOR LIQUEFIED GAS STORAGE AND UTILIZATION EQUIPMENT FIG. 3.

Filed may s, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FlG.4.

/1? 4 .29 /"4 9 4 2; i 44 3/ 26 L? 40 a a 22 I INVENTOR. 1 E1141 El Endalzufi ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 12, 1935 UNITED STATES CABINET AND SUPPORT FOR LIQUEFIED GAS STORAGE AND UTILIZATION EQUIP- MENT Paul S. Endacott, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Phillips Petroleum Company, B'artlcsville,

Okla, a corporation of Delaware Application May 8, 1933, Serial No. 670,048

10 Claims.

The present invention relates to customers equipment for the storage and utilization" of liquesupport for parts of such equipment.

Heretofore it hasbeen the most general practlce to vend liquefied gas for domestic and anal- Ous purposes, according to what is generally known as the one-drum" and the two-drum systems.

According to the one-drum system, the customer has on his premises a cabinet containing a drum, hereinafter called a tank, for storage of liquefied gas and other equipment for the utilization of the gas. The customers equipment is generally serviced by the vendor transporting and ntroducing into the tank, forming a part of such qulpment, a supply of the liquefied gas. In order to make reasonablysure that the customer will have at all times a ready supply of the liquefied as in storage, without attention on the part of the customer to the equipment, trips are made. periodically by the service man to the customers equipment. By including a number of customers on a route, the service man may with more or less regularity, say every month, attend to the requirements of the customers, without the necessity of attention to the equipment on the part of the customers. service man determines, first, the quantity of liquefied gas consumed and for which the customer is generally billed and, second, the quantity he has introduced into the tank' to replenish the supply in storage. This system has many advantages mainlyamong which is the low investment in tanks, since only one tank is provided as a part of the customers equipment and it remains on the customers premises indefinitely. This is in contradistinction to the "two-drum system,

where at least two tanks ordinarily form a part of the customers equipment, altho gas is generally being drawn from but one of the tanks at a time.

The two-drum system involves a servicing p ration on the part of the customer as well as the vendor. The customer, when hehas .utilized all of the liquefied gas in one tank, goes to the cabinet and, by'the manipulation of the valves therein, brings into use the second filled tank. He then notifies the vendor, as by mail or telephone, to come for the empty tank and replace it with a filled tank. The service man is thus required to either make a special trip to the customers equipment or include it as a stop if traveling a route in order to substitute a filled By a weighing operation the tank for that which has been emptied and to be in readiness to be drawn upon when the occasion arises. The two-drum system, it'will be seen has high investment requirements, that is, at least two tanks and a cabinet to enclose the same for each customer, and expensive distributing costs.

Both the one-drum and two-drum systems are necessarily restricted to relatively small geographical areas which have-high concentration of population beyond the gas mains.

The present invention is particularly well adapted for, but not necessarily limited to use where the customer operates the liquefied gas storage and utilization equipment on his premises and looks after the transportation of the empty or partially empty tank to a supply depot or station, and a filled tank from such depot or station to his equipment. In doing so, the customer may use any suitable vehicle for transportation of the tank and its contents. For instance, the family automobile may be used andjsince, in outlying rural sections, trips are frequently made to the more populated sections where there are various supplyestablishments, this transaction may take place while on other errands. Thus, liquefied gas may be made available to those located in sections where the cost of servicing of the customers equipment-according to the one-drum and ftwo-drum systems above referred to, would be prohibitive. It is preferred to make the tanks relatively smaller than those used where the equipment is serviced by the vendor. For instance, a' filled tank of 45 pounds capacity may be readily liftedand carried or rolled over the ground by the average adult without difiiculty and serve as a source of supply for several days, or a month or more, before it must again be detachedfrom the customers equipment and replaced by a tank containing a further supply.-

The principal objects of the present invention are, to provide a cabinet for at least a portion of the customers tank andfor other parts of the equipment whereby this high pressure liquefied gas may be used, the cabinet'and support being compact and hence may be shipped and stored in assembled condition at a low cost; and which.

cabinet forming a part of customers equipment, adapted to at least partially enclose a detachable tank for high pressure liquefied gas in such manner that the use of containers other than those particularly intended for use as a part of the equipment is made difficult, if not impossible, with the end in view that spurious liquefied gas may not be used with the equipment.

A further object of the-invention is to provide a sturdy and inexpensive support for the storage tank of such equipment whereby the support may be attached to a portion of the building or other structure housing the gas consuming appliances, at a location requiring a minimum of piping or where the equipment will be least conspicuous, and which will hold the tank in suspended position while in use so that a prepared base or foundation is not required beneath the tank.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which drawings:--

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a cabinet constructed according to the present invention, with a movable section or door in an open position, and showing liquefied gas storage and utilization equipment associated therewith, a portion of a protecting ring or collar being broken away to disclose parts which otherwise would be concealed.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the cabinet with the movable section or door closed, and showing a portion of the equipment disclosed in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view on substantially the line 33 of Figure 1, parts being broken away and shown in section to disclose details.

Figures 4 and 5- are horizontal sectional views on substantially the lines 4-4 and 55 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 but showing the tank removed and the door or movable section of the cabinet in an open position.

In the drawings, wherein similar characters designate similar parts thruout the views, A designates a rigid structure or support, such as the wall of a building; B customers liquefied gas storage and utilization equipment, which may include a tank C for liquefied gas under superatmosphericpressure, control means D carried by the tank for control of the egress of gas from the tank, lifting and weighing mechanism E, a conduit line F for low pressure gas, and means G for detachably connecting the mechanism E and the tank C; H a cabinet and support for the equipment B, constructed according to the preferredembodiment of the present invention; and J means for securing the cabinet and support H to the rigid structure A.

Since the equipment is well adapted for domestic use, the support or stru'ctureA is shown asthe side wall of a building it being understoodthat the equipment will be placed in a moreor less concealed location or at a'point requiring a minimum of low pressure piping to the customers appliances where the gas is consumed. The

storage and utilization equipment B, the tank C preferably comprises a relatively long slender cylindrical main body portion 8, provided with a foot ring 9 at its lower end portion and a preferably non-circular protecting ring 10 at its upper portion. The details of this tank form no part of the present invention except to the extent that the protecting ring 10 may cooperate with, and form a part of means carried by the housing to prevent circumferential movement of the tank C about its vertical axis.

' The control means D may comprise, one or more valves 11, the egress port 12 of one of which is shown in Figure 3 and forms a portion of the means G for detachably connecting the mechanism E to the tank C. This control means D is preferably encircled by the protecting ring 10, which, in the example shown, extends into the lower portion of the cabinet. Possible details of construction of the tank C and the control means D may be found in co-pending applications of Paul S. Endacott, filed May 8, 1933, Serial-Numbers 670,046 and 670,047.

As to the lifting and weighing mechanism E, the preferred construction is shown in detail in a copending application of Paul S. Endacott, filed May 8, 1933, Serial Number 670,045 and includes a lifting device 14 including a hanger 15, a vertically movable screw 16 connected to the hanger, and a nut member 17 for the screw member 16, adapted, as hereinafter described, to raise and lower the hanger 15, by feeding the screw member 16 upwardly or downwardly; and a. scale 18 including a beam 19 and poise 20. The beam 19 includes a sleeve section 21 and a stem section 22 slidable in section 21 which permits the beam to be extended laterally of the housing, as shown in Figure 1.

The conduit line F comprises a horizontally disposed pipe length 25 extending transversely thru the cabinet, a union or other coupling 26, and such other pipe fittings 27 as may be required to connect the gas storage and utilization desired, a low pressure relief valve 29 may have operative communication with the conduit line F.

The means G may comprise a pressure reducing regulator 30 which has communication with the conduit line F thru flexible hose 31 and is connected to the scale 18 by a stirrup 32 and an eye bolt 33; and a coupling device 34 including an'inlet compression nozzle 35 for cooperation with outlet port 12 of control means D. If desired, a device 36 may be provided to limit the swinging movement of means G, this device in the example shown comprising an eye 37 carried by the regulator 30 andanL-shaped member 38 secured to pipe 25, with a depending leg 39 extending thru the eye.

The cabinet and support H preferably com- ,prlse a vertically elongate fixed or main body portion or section 40, a. vertically elongate movable portion or section 41, preferably of doorlike construction, means 42 to retain the sections in a. closed position, means 43 toprevent circumferential movement of the tank C about its vertical axis, and a bracket support 44 in cluding an attaching plate 45 and an arm 48 extending outwardly therefrom.

The main body portion or section 40 preferably comprises a rear wall 47 and opposite par-. allel side walls 48 and 49 providing a cavity 50; and a top 51 carried by the walls 47, 48 and 49, and including a projection 52 extending forwardly beyond the plane common to the front vertical margins 53 and 54, of the walls 48 and 49, respectively. If desired, a horizontal rein-. forcing strip 55 may be provided along the lower margin of the projection 52 and at the junctures between the top 51 and the side walls 48 and 49. Vertically extending reinforcing strips 56 and 57 may be secured to the walls 48 and 49 extending slightly beyond the margins 53 and 54, respectively, to cooperate with the movable section 41 of the cabinet, when the latter is in a closed position, to exclude rain and snow.

The, movable portion or sect-ion 41 is preferably arcuate in horizontal cross section, providing a cavity 60; This section 41 may be hingedly connected, as at 61 to wall 48 at'marginal portion 62 of theformer. 'The opposite marginal portion 63 engages the marginal portion 54 of wall 49 when the section 41 is in a closed position, as shown in'Figure 5. The upper marginal portion 64 of section 41 engages the reinforcing strip 55, as shown in Figure 3. Preferably open to margin 63 is a slot 65, as shown inFigure 2, to accommodate the stem section 22 of scale beam 19, when section. 41 is in a closed position, so as to permit the scale beam and poise 20 to act as a signal, visible from the exterior of the cabinet and whereby the customer may be informed when at least a certain portion of the liquefied gas has been used,

according to the setting of the'stem section 22 of the scale beam relative to the sleeve section 21.

Means 42, to retain the section 41 in. a closed position preferably comprises a hasp 66 secured to section 41, cooperating with a staple 67, or its equivalent, secured to section 40, and a padlock 68, the shackle 69 of which is received by the staple 6'? in the well known, manner. This means 42 is merely by way of example, it being understood that other means may be provided to detachably secure the sections in closed relation. v

Inasmuch as it is preferred to pendently support the tank C while coupled for use of the liquefied gas therein, so as to permit ready weighing of the contents of-the tank, and so that it is not necessary to provide a permanent level footing, such as a concrete base, the tank being normally spaced above the ground 70, as shown in Figure 1 means 43, cooperating with the tank is provided to prevent circumferential movement of the latter about its vertical axis, which might otherwise tend to disconnect cou-. Pling device 34. at a time when control means D is in'condition for egress of gas from the tank. In the example shown, means 43 in addition to the preferably non-circular protecting ring 10 comprises web plates or braces '75 and 76 extending across the lower portions of the cavities 50 and 60 of sections 40 and 41, respectively. The web plate 75 has outer arcuate marginal portions '77 and a V notched portion 78, while the web plate 76 has an arcuate marginal portion 79 which marginal portions cooperate to embrace the oval-shaped protecting ring 10, as shown in Figures. The v notch '78 receives a projection 80 carried by ring 10 and which, in the example shown, constitutes a portion of means to facilitate attaching the tank to the running board on ring 10 in such a manner that the customer will properly arrange the tank relative to the other equipment for most convenient operation,

especially where one of the valves 11 is for control of a major supply of liquefied gas in the tank, and the other valve for control of a reserve or minor supply, and it is desired to have the former valve most conveniently located for manipulation. If an attempt is made to place the tank C so that theprojection 80 does not fit in the V notched marginal portion of web 75, it will be found that the movable section 41 of the cabinet cannot be closed. These web plates '75 and 76 therefore serve many purposes-to brace the lower portion of the cabinet, to cooperate with one another and the ring 10 to prevent circumferential movement of the tank C about its vertical axis, and they also act as a barrier to make it inconvenient if not impossible for a person to 'manipulate the valves 11, when the section 41 is in a closed, locked position. It is of. course to be understood that the web plates 75 and 76 do not so closely embrace the ring 10 as to prevent vertical movement of the tank and especially that movement desirable when the scale beam 19 and poise 20 overbalance the liquefied gas remaining in the tank after some has been consumed at the customers appliances.

Referring now to the bracket support 44, the attaching plate may be rigidly secured to the rear wall 4'? of the cabinet as by rivets 85. This a channel 92 in which the hanger 15 is movable,

and guided against twisting movement by the flanges 91. Outwardly diverging bracing wings 93 at the lower portions of flanges 91 may be provided, these wings being secured to the attaching plate 45, as shown in Figures 1, 3 and 4.

If desired, a second lag screw 95 may be provided extending thru an opening 96 in rear wall 47 adjacent the lower portion thereof, this lag screw being secured to support A, and prevents the cabinet from being swung about the axis of shank 88.

The fact that the cabinet and support contains no loose or removable parts, removes the possibility of tinkering or tampering on the part of certain types of users to a very great degree.

By constructing the cabinet so that merely the upper portion of the tank, which carries the control means D is enclosed, the cabinet may be shipped and stored in assembled form, being very compact and comparatively light in weight, in contradistinction to cabinets of a character to enclosethe entire tank.

It is to be understood that, insofar as the cabinet and support is concerned, other means may be provided for lifting the tank and other mechanism; other means provided for weighing the liquefied gas in the tank, or indicating an approach to or depletion of the supply; that the weighing or indicating mechanism may be omitted, andotherphanges made without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the cabinet is secured to an upright,

such as a wall, with its open bottom spaced a considerable distance above the ground, and the tank C extends upwardly into the cabinet in suspended relation. Thus the tank which is made of strong, weather resisting material is only enclosed where it carries control parts, and the cabinets may be made relatively short in contradistinction to those which enclose the entire tank on tanks. The cavities 50 and 60 of sections 40 and 41, respectively, communicate when the section 41 is closed thereby accommodating much of the equipment,

No. 670,045. This makes room in cavity 40 for the pipe 25, relief valve 29, and flexible hose 31 with which the customer is not necessarily concerned and is best concealed as much as possible.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a tank for fuel used in a fuel consuming appliance, a device for suspending said tank while in use delivering fuel to the fuel consuming appliance and moving it upwardly as the supply of fuel in the tank is used, and a cabinet so mounted as to extend over and at least partially envelop the upper portion of the tank and remain fixed and free of the tank while the latter is suspended and while it is moving upwardly.

2. A cabinet including a main body portion having an open bottom and a fixed top, a tank for liquefied gas extending partially into the cabinet at the open bottom thereof, and means in the cabinet for suspending the tank with its upper portion in the cabinet.

3. A cabinet including a main body portion having an open bottom and a fixed top, a tank for liquefied gas extending partially into the cabinet at the open bottom thereof, and means in the cabinet for weighing and suspending the tank with its upper portion in the cabinet.

4. A cabinet for customers? liquefied gas storage and utilization equipment comprising, a vertically elongate main body portion having a cavity and including a rear wall of sheet metal, a bracket support including an arm and an attaching plate of heavierysheet material than said rear wall, means securing said attaching plate to theupper portion of said rear wall, and means passing-thru said attaching plate and rear wall for rigidly attaching said main body portion and bracket support directly to. a wall.

5. In combination with a vertically movable suspended tank, a cabinet for at least the upper portion of the tank including means to preventcircumferential movement of the tank about its vertical axis.

6. In combination with a vertically-movable suspended tank including a non-circular-element, a cabinet for at least a portion of the tank including a fixed section providing a cavity, a movable section carried by said fixed section and providing a cavity communicating with said first cavity when the movable section is in a closed position, and braces for said fixed and movable sections having marginal portions shaped to and embracing said non-circular element to prevent circumferential movement of the tank about its vertical axis. 4

7. In combination with a vertically movable suspended tank including anon-circular element, a cabinet for at least a portion of the tank including, a fixed section providing a cavity, a movable section carried by said fixed section and providing a cavity communicating with said first cavity when the movable section is in'a closed position, and web plates extending across the lower portions of the cavities of said sections for bracing same and having marginal portions shaped to and embracing said non-circular element to prevent circumferential movement of the tank about its vertical axis.

8. In combination with a vertically movable suspended tank having a non-circular portion, a cabinet for at least the non-circular portion including means embracing the said non-circular portion to prevent circumferential movement of 'the tank about its vertical axis.

9. In combination with a vertically movable suspended tank having a non-circular portion and a lateral projection, a cabinet for at least the non-circular portion including companion web plates, movable one with respect to. another, having marginal portions shaped to embrace the noncircular portion of the tank to prevent circumferential movement of the tank about its vertical axis, one of said web plates provided with a notch to accommodate said projection, so that the tank can be assembled relative to the cabinet for vertical movement, in only one position.

10. In combination with a vertically movable suspended tank including a non-circular element, a cabinet for at least a portion of the tank including a fixed section providing a cavity, a movable section carried by said fixed section and pro- 

